Collaborators

Un article de Laboratoire de nanorobotique.

MAIN COLLABORATORS/PARTNERS AND FUNDING ORGANISMS

The following main collaborators are interacting with the NanoRobotics Laboratory to complement its expertise in several projects :

Oncology and other medical issues
Dr. Gerald Batist, Chair, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Director of the McGill Centre for Translational Research in Cancer, McGill University with clinical focus on novel targeted therapies, assists us on various medical issues. Dr. Richard Béliveau (Chair in Prevention and Cancer Treatment) is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and the Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Medicine at Sainte Justine Hospital. His work deals with the prevention and treatment of cancerous tumors, angiogenesis, and drugs.

Surgical interventions
Dr. Gilles Soulez from the Dept. of Radiology, Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), is a well recognized interventional radiologist. He assists us for the catheter-based delivery of the ferromagnetic/polymer-based carriers prior to arteriole entry.

Development of the carriers being navigated in the blood vessels
Dr. Jean-Christophe Leroux (Canada Research Chair in Drug Delivery) from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal, has gained recognition for his work on the formulation of and in vivo evaluation of nanocarriers for anticancer drugs. He developed a number of parenteral delivery systems that are used to increase the therapeutic index of cytostatics. Dr. Leroux’s group assists us in the preparation, characterization and evaluation of our drug-loaded polymeric nanoparticles ferromagnetic carriers. Dr. Mircea. A. Mateescu (Dept. of Chemistry, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)) is an expert in starch derivatives and their use as carriers for bioactive agents. He joined our team to design, synthesize, characterize and optimize the degradation kinetics of Degradable Starch Microparticles (DSMs) able to carry ferromagnetic nanoparticles and an active principle or fluorescent agent.

Biocompatibility and toxicity
To assist in the conception and development of the magnetic carriers within the constraints imposed by biocompatibility issues, Dr. L’Hocine Yahia and Dr. Yahye Merhi participate and assist us in various tests. Dr. Yahia from the Dept. of Mechanical Eng., École Polytechnique de Montréal (EPM), is a recognized expert in biomaterials and biocompatibility issues and manages the Laboratory for Innovation and Analysis of the Bioperformance (L.I.A.B.) which has the relevant expertise on the characterization of biomaterials for the development of medical devices. Dr. Merhi (Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal) is an expert in biocompatibility, toxicity and other reactions specific to blood.

Development of MRI steering coils
Dr. Brian K. Rutt (Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario Endowed Research Chair Vascular Imaging) from the Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute and Dr. Blaine A. Chronik (Canada Research Chair in Medical Physics) from the Dept of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science University of Western Ontario, bring their worldwide recognized expertise in the design of gradient coils for MRI. They joined our team to assist us in the conception of the new steering gradient coils for navigating microdevices or carriers in the blood vessels.

MR-tracking including MR-imaging and registration
Dr. Gilles Beaudoin, Dept. of Radiology, Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), is an expert in medical physics related to magnetic resonance imaging and has been working with us for several years. He assists us in many aspects and especially in the development of the MRI sequences. Dr. Farida Cheriet (Dept. of Computer Eng., École Polytechnique de Montréal (EPM)) has recognized expertise in segmentation and automatic real-time registration of medical images. She equally developed an innovative application using auto-calibration techniques for the 3D reconstruction from sequences of biplane cine-angiography, 3D motion estimation from spatio-temporal sequences, 3D navigation systems for minimally invasive surgery, and non-invasive 3D modeling.

MRI gradient-based closed-loop displacement control
Dr. Richard Gourdeau from the Dept. of Electrical Eng., École Polytechnique de Montréal (EPM), is a specialist in robotic control and automation including control systems. He is assisting us in the development of control algorithms.

Microbiology
Dr. Michel Sylvestre from INRS Institut Armand Frappier assists us in general microbiology-related issues including cells cultures and development of antibodies. Dr. Rosemonde Mandeville from BioPhage Pharma is a specialist in phages and assists us in issues related to the fast detection of pathogenic bacteria.

Microelectronics, microfabrication, characterization and modeling

Dr. Yvon Savaria (Canada Research Chair in Microelectronics) from the Dept. of Electrical Eng., École Polytechnique de Montréal (EPM), is an expert in the design of analog and digital microcircuits. He is collaborating and assisting us in the development of some of the many electronic microcircuits developed in our Laboratory. Dr. Yves-Alain Peter is from the Dept. of Eng. Physics, École Polytechnique de Montréal (EPM), and an expert in Silicon-based microfabrication methods. He is assisting us in some aspects of some microfabrication projects underway in our Laboratory. Dr. Daniel Therriault from the Dept. of Mechanical Eng., École Polytechnique de Montréal (EPM), is an expert in micro heat-pipe fabrication required for providing high-density heat dissipation for several high-powered microsystems and robots. Dr. Pascal Hubert (Canada Research Chair in Modeling) from the Dept. of Mechanical Eng. at McGill University is responsible for the computer models of heat exchanges and behaviors in micro heat-pipes.